Criminal complaint filed in Madison Heights against Charles Pugh

Questions are now being raised about what future, if any, Charles Pugh will have on Detroit City Council.

WXYZ

Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. (WXYZ) - Attorneys for the woman who accuses Detroit city councilman Charles Pugh of having an inappropriate relationship with her son say a criminal complaint has been filed against him.

A news release says the complaint was filed Saturday at the Madison Heights Police Department. No details about the complaint have been released. Police have not commented.

The woman's attorney, Deano Ware, released the following statement in the news release about the complaint:

As a result of the filing of this criminal complaint by our clients the civil lawsuit which was to be filed on Monday, July 1st 2013 has been postponed. We wish to give the criminal authorities an opportunity to properly and thoroughly investigate the matters contained in our clients statements regarding Mr. Pugh. We will also be suspending all media appearances while this investigation is pending other than those necessary to provide updates on developments in this matter. Now that this is a criminal matter our clients request that you respect the privacy and confidentiality afforded them under the law in criminal proceeding such as these.

However, he is still a member of the body, as Orr cannot strip him of the seat he won in an election.

A WXYZ-TV viewer
sent in a photo that appears to show Pugh. She says she spotted the embattled former City Council President in Seattle on Friday. However, 7 Action News has not been able to confirm that Pugh is in that city.

Pugh gave an 18-year-old student more than $200 in cash, including money to pay for a prom night hotel and about $150 in dress clothes. He also purchased a cell phone for about $150 and paid for the cost of activation, according to the young man's mother, who did not want her son to have a phone.

7 Action News recently spoke with the woman but we are not naming her or her son.

The mom told us in a lengthy interview that she is troubled because the money and presents were kept secret from her.

Pugh came into contact with the young man through the Charles Pugh Leadership Forum, which he runs out of Douglass Academy in Detroit, an all-male high school. He did not deny providing the gifts and cash.

For three years, Pugh has met weekly at the school with senior students. In a statement, he said his program is the "perfect way to encourage community service and [get] directly involved in positively impacting the city and our youth."

The mother says she's concerned that Pugh's gifts may lead—or already have led—to other inappropriate conduct. But there is no evidence that it ever has, and Pugh and the woman's son deny there ever was.

Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.